Thailand hilltribe village

Re: Thailand hilltribe village

I've stayed in a couple of Thai hilltribe villages that we use and they are most definitely authentic. They are living and working communities where you will usually stay as guests of one family in the same accommodation they use - sometimes in the adjacent room.

Facilities are fairly basic - there was no electricity where I stayed, and the shower was a local stream. Your early morning alarm call will be courtesy of a pack of village dogs, and dinner will be served round the bonfire. The villagers benefit from the income we bring, as without it they would be extremely poor, but there's no theme park element to it - this is the real thing.

A few pics:

House we stayed in at left

The main square

'It's called Trance.'

The alarm clocks.

Re: Thailand hilltribe village

Hi Ekatarina,

Thanks for your question. It's a good point that you have raised.

I don't know how I am going to follow Jez's exceptional answer but just a few points to add...

I also stayed at a couple of hill-tribe villages during my recent Northen Adventure tour in December. The hilltribe trekking part of the tour runs really well - you trek to the first village, stay the night, trek to the second village, take lunch, take some elephants to the second village, stay the night, then take bamboo rafts all the way down river to the meeting point with your trucks back to Chiang Mai on the 3rd day.

The villages are, as Jez says, completely authentic and many of them have been there for many years. On the Northern Adventure tour the group shares a wooden hut (see pictures) for the 2 nights in the jungle with very basic facilities available. You really are then awoken by the sound of the jungle coming to life early the following morning.

Whilst we as a group did not interact with our hosts on the first night it was clear that this was a working village. The setup was the same on the second night in a different village by a medium-sized river.

I'm terrible with names and have forgotten the names of both villages but the tribes we stayed with were the 'Lahu' and the 'Karen'. Indeed, our trekking guide for the 3 day trek was from the Lahu tribe himself.

The reality of the situation is that tourism can massively increase the income of a village so more and more of them are offering a hut or two as hotels to tourists - the difference between renting out a hut as a place to stay as opposed to traditional ways of making money are staggering so it's no surprise that this is happening. Our guide even explained this to us on the 2nd night.

Having said all of that the villages themselves that we visit have not changed for many years and have not changed to adapt to the arrival of outsiders. Due to our stance on responsible travel that's just the way we'd like it to stay. Yes, outsiders now regularly visit them but no, this does not mean that the whole village has been especially put together just to 'entertain' western tourists. It's a chance for the villages to increase their income and a chance for tourists to see a slice of daily life in rural Thailand that many visitors to Thailand's 'main' attractions would not see. It's a win/win situation and very rewarding.

I hope this helps. If you have any further questions about the hilltribe villages that we visit please let me know.

Regards,
Brendan.

Re: Thailand hilltribe village

The White Karen village was called Maejok. The Red Lahu village on the second night is Po Ngaen.

The only results you'll find for Po Ngaen village on the web is from my own galleries. Maejok doesn't even exist, according to Google.

Re: Thailand hilltribe village

Good work agent Jez

Brendan

Re: Thailand hilltribe village

Thank you for your replies. I am much reassured, and the trip as described seems really fantastic! I have heard of an artificial village though somewhere in Thailand, unfortunately I do not know the exact location or its name. That's why I was asking. I am glad that you work with the locals in their true habitat, and that they get to benefit from the money of tourism. Thank you again for your response.

Re: Thailand hilltribe village

Hi Ekatarina,

No problem, I'm glad that we were able to allay your fears. Sometimes you cannot avoid 'mass-marketed' tourist sites and understandably a lot of our customers want to pay these attractions a visit during their stay but we're also very passionate about Responsible Travel and try to give something back to the communities that we are visiting when we can.

Regards,
Brendan

Re: Thailand hilltribe village

I have heard about a "fake village", the one I heard about was a certain Paduang tribe (Long necked women) who wear t-shirts, normal "Western clothes". When the buses are about to roll up they get changed into their 'tribal wear' and pose for photos - for a price - then get changed back into their "western clothes".

Sounds a bit dodgy, but I was under the impression Imtrav doesn't visit any Paduang tribes...

Re: Thailand hilltribe village

I have heard of 'tourism villages' occurring in several sites around the world, but as a company we do not visit any of them. We are extremely careful over who and what we support due to our stated policy of [url=http://www.imtravplanet.com/index.php]responsible travel[/url]. We have withdrawn our custom in the past from places we feel are not in keeping with that, such as an elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka which we no longer visit due to allegations of aninmal mistreatment, or riding elephants up to Amber Fort in India for the same reason. Each year we also provide a trip to the winners of the [url=http://www.survival-international.org/]Survival International[/url] Christmas lottery, an organisation whose purpose is to safeguard and protect the culture of tribal peoples around the world.

In my own view it's not always straightforward - the relationship between tribal peoples and travellers is complex. I know of travellers who have visited Southern Africa and have been disappointed that the locals wear ordinary western clothes, not tribal regalia. In the case of the San Bushmen, one of the only times they actually get the opportunity to practise their cultural traditions is at events which are sometimes attended by tourists - and tourism probably offers them the only alternative source of income to a lifetime on the dole in a township. So they get changed out of jeans and T-shirts and put on a show. They are doing it as much for themselves as for an audience, and it is in fact one of the only ways that their culture has a hope of surviving, and is how the younger generation learn about it.

I don't believe we visit any Padaung tribes, but even if we did, if there was even the slightest suggestion of exploitation we would halt visits.